Gustav

I didn't know that but I'm not surprised. It would explain why Stella is so heavily marketed here.

Busch is one of the cheapest, most mass-produced American beers there is. I'm surprised you haven't heard of Stella though since they're based in Europe.

I don't even like beer but I was wondering if I'd ever be in one of these. To add to the Mexico thing--I'm ok (not great) at Spanish. I appreciate the comparison

You ungrateful swine! Imagine my surprise when I opened up our lovely forum at the lovely hour of 1:30 in the morning to find that our lovely VHFL scoring system has been changed by none other than our lovely @Spartan. Now, imagine my surprise when I opened Discord and skimmed through for 10 seconds to find nobody talking about it. And further imagine how I felt when I saw no reactions on the thread and only a handful of views (some nonzero percentage of which were just me because I keep closing the tab for no reason). And, equally importantly, imagine my rage upon realizing that being someone who usually knows who to pick to take advantage of the current system no longer matters and I might start to suck at fantasy. Do I like it yet? I remain unconvinced until we see a few seasons of this. But, I consider it a fair response to the constant stream of articles about how all of VHFL needs to be burned to the ground. In the past, I've taken a more conservative stance on the scoring system--I haven't hated it at all, but I have acknowledged that hits and blocked shots are just a little too powerful in some cases. Some very short points because this is a .com article and I'd like to finish before 2: -I like that +/- is a factor. In just about any other context I think it's a garbage stat and I prefer to ignore it, but this helps to address the "I'm picking this player because they're a decent player on a bad team" meta. -I don't like how extremely biased defenseman scoring is towards offense. In my opinion--make hits and (especially) shots blocked powerful for defensemen, but also make +/- more of a factor. Actual defensive play should be rewarded, not going 40/99 and only caring about goals. -Did the value of hits go up? I thought it was 0.2 before, and if it was, that confuses me. Hits counting for much of anything was something some people found completely unacceptable for some reason, so this seems like a weird move to make. As a whole, don't know yet, will need time to evaluate. But there are things I like...and if you really cared and weren't just jumping on the "I didn't win my VHFL group this season so now we need to kill everyone" train, you should be legitimately excited about this.

Week 2

Onions are SEVERELY underrated, not only on pizza but in food in general. They have to be combined with something else though, like sausage or green peppers. Also I'm neutral on pineapple. Not personally my thing but I don't get the hate for it. I'd rather do pineapple than some other things.

I almost scrolled by and didn't even notice when I saw I'd been pinged in the fantasy zone thread this week. I thought I'd just gotten better at fantasy this season, but taking a look back at it now...I've hit the 2-TPE payout in 4 out of the past 5 weeks. And coming from someone who usually isn't all that good at fantasy zone, that's a little bit concerning. I couldn't have just gotten better at it. Or maybe I did, but I couldn't have just gotten that much better at it. I also feel like I've been seeing way more pings in the thread than I ever did, despite the fact that fantasy hasn't changed too much lately. Are the matchups just easier to predict? I'm not entirely sure because I usually have a good idea of who's on what team and that never helped me in the past. My bet is that it has to do more with the second question being different--while I appreciate the variety, I'd be willing to venture a guess that the second question is paying out more than the first, because I'd have to be insanely lucky to see past Simon and guess all these matchups correctly. Am I advocating for killing the current system or moving back to exactly the way it used to be? Not really, but I also think it's been a bit too easy (in my experience) to win this season.

Ah shit you got me

FORMALIZE THE ASK 3, ANSWER 3 FORMAT. IT'S WAY BETTER BUT NOBODY WILL EVER USE IT ON THEIR OWN BECAUSE IT'S TOO DIFFERENT. I've never broken a bone or anything, but one time I was using a carrot peeler that suddenly accidentally became a finger peeler. I still have a scar from it. Last board game I was really into was Axis & Allies. It's a WWII thing but it can also take days to finish so I never have the time to play it.

1. You seem to have caught on fairly quickly--have you been in any other sim leagues (or even this one way back before my time)? 2. What are some cool things about you as a person? 3. I see that your bio says you're from Seattle--does the league have its first legitimate Kraken fan (that I know of)?

SEINFELD IS NOW ON NETFLIX, PEOPLE. It's been a few years since I first watched through it and it's better than I remember. It's also managed to age very well so it's still relatable for zoomers like me.

Good to see this thread bumped again; now I can give you guys something else you probably won't care about. On a jazz kick lately, check out the wonderful instrumental work in this video: To anyone wondering why a great solo turns into ripping the same three notes for over a whole minute, I don't know either, but there's a lot to like through the whole thing.

Imagine how well it would go over if we told VHLM GMs that they have to give up ownership of their servers because they can't be trusted with them. Even if the commissioners tried to make a network of league-owned servers, I'd imagine most GMs would keep using their own server because they have everything just the way they want it. I think that the GM should be able to own the server, and those GMs who leave should transfer ownership, and I can think of a couple examples where either ownership was held hostage by someone else who just didn't want to give it up or the GM disappeared or refused to bring in the new one out of spite or something...but in those cases, I think it's the healthier choice for all concerned to just move on and make a new one. I get what you're saying, but it's a lot of unnecessary complication for what's ultimately a minor issue.

I had no idea this was a thing anywhere in Europe. That's interesting.

Well that's a shame, I knew he had some character flaws but never had a problem with him when he played here. I'm glad he went somewhere else before all this stuff started. I'd say I'm surprised he thought he could sneak that through but I'm honestly more surprised that the league cared to verify it.

I'm out of the loop on this one...what happened? I know there have been a few things building up over the past year or so but I don't know what exactly.

Only true VHL homies remember the legend that is MORPHEUS

Oh hey! I vaguely remember you; we created around the same time. Cool to see another Sabres fan in the house.

I can usually find what I'm looking for because I know which buttons to press to get what I want. That said, the default "most relevant" search is garbage.

Upon conclusion of his career in the VHL, Davos center Taro Tsujimoto has announced that he doesn't plan to open a restaurant or go into broadcasting or do any of the usual post-career sports stuff. Instead, he's taking his talents and expertise to the wide world of materials science. "When you think about it, everything you see in hockey is a material that can be and has been engineered for the best possible experience," said Tsujimoto when contacted by reporters for this article. "It's quite fascinating that so much of it is taken for granted." And he's right--jerseys are made from polymerized fabric, sticks have changed their composition almost endlessly since aluminum came in and shocked the wooden world, and protective equipment constantly gets lighter, better, and safer. The glass surrounding the ice must be strong enough to absorb bodies and pucks, and it's gotten stronger in recent years--think back to 10 years ago or so, if you're old enough, and think about how often you'd see a game stopped for a few minutes while a pane of glass is replaced. Sure, it still happens, but not as often. And, by the way, the glass can't fog up. Behind the scenes, technical experts have been working to give players and fans the best possible experience at the molecular level. Even the ice is engineered--players prefer to skate on harder, colder ice, so it isn't just tap water that's out there in the rink. It's salt water, taking advantage of water's resistance to crystallization (in other words, its lower freezing point) when used as a solvent. And, of course, knowing exactly what's going on with the ice leads to great potential improvements in skates--making blades that stay sharp and interact well with the ice surface, improving the security of the blades so players don't lose an edge, designing insoles to reduce player fatigue and making skates that conform easily and tightly to players' feet to reduce the risk of ankle or knee injury. Flooring leading from the locker rooms must be durable enough not to break down while also being soft enough to damage skate blades. Seats in the arena should be cheap, tougher than the drunkest fan, and (ideally) comfortable. Even the concrete poured for the building must be tough and long-lasting, and metal supports used to hold up the stands and the roof need to be able to handle the dynamic stresses of excited fans or the weight of snow. Zamboni tires need to make the machine steerable, while also making sure it doesn't dig into the ice--relying upon surface friction on a surface noted for its lack of friction. Everything you see is a material. And Taro is up to the challenge. "I'm a part-time student at ETH Zürich during the offseason, and by the time I retire, I hope I'm halfway through a degree," he says. "I've earned enough that I can put myself through the rest of school with no problem, and then I'd like to start a business." Though it may be a long way away, the hockey world waits to see how one of its brightest stars can contribute to its future. Happy theme week!

MONSTROPOLIS--waves of crime and conflict across the animated world have been well-documented throughout the ages, but we have seen nothing as shocking as what a routine check uncovered at the former headquarters of Monsters, Incorporated, a large building today presumed to be empty. After it was confirmed in the offseason that all league history mysteriously disappears on an annual basis, speculation was cast over the status of this season's trivia, which has since shown itself to not be unfounded as not a single question has been asked of the people to this point. The VHL's head of trivia disappeared from the league-run facility shortly after publication of our first bulletin, and has recently turned up in Monstropolis with many questions left unanswered (both on our part and on his). The deepening of the mystery continued, and the nefariousness of his reasons was uncovered, when it was discovered that through what a police officer on scene called "random dumb luck", the league's trivia head had managed to power up the former factory's Scream Extractor, and had opened up a portal not to an unsuspecting child's room but to the VHL forum itself. It is unclear what had been done from here, but unconfirmed rumors suggest that he may have been gathering energy from the resentment associated with complaints about trivia itself. If true, this would surely represent a combination of insider trading and emotional trauma the likes of which the world has never seen before. Further details to come as events warrant.

For the week ending 10/17: 1. Our collective nemesis @Berocka was put on the BoG. What's something you'd like him to know that the league needs? 2. This week is theme week, with the theme being "life after VHL"! Do you think it's a good idea for theme week? If not, what would you like to see as a theme? 3. The trade deadline is Monday, and as a team with no cap space, we're a team that can't really buy. Are you comfortable enough with how we've been performing to be optimistic for the playoffs? 4. NHL hockey is back! What's your realistic prediction for your team this season? 5. What's your NHL hot take? 6. What's something from another country that you'd like to see more of in yours? @Berocka@Ricer13@efiug @KC15 @TheCHEESE @Ahma @PatrikLaine @FrostBeard @JardyB10 @tcookie @Banackock

Isn't 52 passing too high for Vancouver?

This is fine and I don't completely disagree with it. That said, even if we don't consider that part a benefit, there are still many others that I think make it worthwhile. As @JardyB10 mentions earlier (and which I've said in the past as well), the portal could use more links to the forum. Maybe after picking a team, you're automatically redirected to the forum or something. And this is another reason I think it would be a good move. You lived on the forum. I did, too. That's an unhealthy and unrealistic expectation for the league to place on its GMs and for the GMs to place on themselves (as well as each other). To your credit, I've never seen you as "part of the problem"--GMs who know avenues to screwing over newer players exist and choose not to take them are a wonderful thing, and it's part of the reason why I'm advocating for some freedom in some places to be given back. There's absolutely nothing wrong with buying or selling, as long as the players you do have love playing for you.